Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 3:1 | To all things there is an appointed time, and a time to euery purpose vnder the heauen. |
| 3:2 | A time to bee borne, and a time to die: a time to plant, and a time to plucke vp that which is planted. |
| 3:3 | A time to slay, and a time to heale: a time to breake downe, and a time to builde. |
| 3:4 | A time to weepe, and a time to laugh: a time to mourne, and a time to dance. |
| 3:5 | A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones: a time to embrace, and a time to be farre from embracing. |
| 3:6 | A time to seeke, and a time to lose: a time to keepe, and a time to cast away. |
| 3:7 | A time to rent, and a time to sowe: a time to keepe silence, and a time to speake. |
| 3:8 | A time to loue, and a time to hate: a time of warre, and a time of peace. |
| 3:9 | What profite hath hee that worketh of the thing wherein he trauaileth? |
| 3:10 | I haue seene the trauaile that God hath giuen to ye sonnes of men to humble them thereby. |
| 3:11 | He hath made euery thing beautifull in his time: also he hath set the worlde in their heart, yet can not man finde out the worke that God hath wrought from the beginning euen to the end. |
| 3:12 | I know that there is nothing good in them, but to reioyce, and to doe good in his life. |
| 3:13 | And also that euery man eateth and drinketh, and seeth the commoditie of all his labour. this is the gift of God. |
| 3:14 | I knowe that whatsoeuer God shall doe, it shalbe for euer: to it can no man adde, and from it can none diminish: for God hath done it, that they should feare before him. |
| 3:15 | What is that that hath bene? that is nowe: and that that shalbe, hath now bene: for God requireth that which is past. |
| 3:16 | And moreouer I haue seene vnder the sunne the place of iudgement, where was wickednesse, and the place of iustice where was iniquitie. |
| 3:17 | I thought in mine heart, God wil iudge the iust and the wicked: for time is there for euery purpose and for euery worke. |
| 3:18 | I considered in mine heart the state of the children of men that God had purged them: yet to see to, they are in themselues as beastes. |
| 3:19 | For the condition of the children of men, and the condition of beasts are euen as one condition vnto them. As the one dyeth, so dyeth the other: for they haue all one breath, and there is no excellency of man aboue ye beast: for all is vanitie. |
| 3:20 | All goe to one place, and all was of the dust, and all shall returne to the dust. |
| 3:21 | Who knoweth whether the spirit of man ascend vpward, and the spirit of the beast descend downeward to the earth? |
| 3:22 | Therefore I see that there is nothing better then that a man shoulde reioyce in his affaires, because that is his portion. For who shall bring him to see what shalbe after him? |
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
The Geneva Bible is one of the most influential and historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th century Protestantism and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan. The language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous and because of this, most readers strongly preferred this version at the time.
The Geneva Bible was produced by a group of English scholars who, fleeing from the reign of Queen Mary, had found refuge in Switzerland. During the reign of Queen Mary, no Bibles were printed in England, the English Bible was no longer used in churches and English Bibles already in churches were removed and burned. Mary was determined to return Britain to Roman Catholicism.
The first English Protestant to die during Mary's turbulent reign was John Rogers in 1555, who had been the editor of the Matthews Bible. At this time, hundreds of Protestants left England and headed for Geneva, a city which under the leadership of Calvin, had become the intellectual and spiritual capital of European Protestants.
One of these exiles was William Whittingham, a fellow of Christ Church at Oxford University, who had been a diplomat, a courtier, was much traveled and skilled in many languages including Greek and Hebrew. He eventually succeeded John Knox as the minister of the English congregation in Geneva. Whittingham went on to publish the 1560 Geneva Bible.
This version is significant because, it came with a variety of scriptural study guides and aids, which included verse citations that allow the reader to cross-reference one verse with numerous relevant verses in the rest of the Bible, introductions to each book of the Bible that acted to summarize all of the material that each book would cover, maps, tables, woodcut illustrations, indices, as well as other included features, all of which would eventually lead to the reputation of the Geneva Bible as history's very first study Bible.